


The perfect suspect

by Lenatoutcourt



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bipolar Disorder, Bipolar Ian Gallagher, Cop Mickey, Denial of Feelings, Happy Ending, Hurt Ian Gallagher, Hurt Mickey Milkovich, Ian Gallagher Loves Mickey Milkovich, Ian and Mickey broke up, Ian doesn't want to be like monica, Ian hides the fact of being bipolar, Ian is suspect, Investigations, Lovers to enemies to lovers, M/M, Mentioned Monica Gallagher, Mickey Milkovich Loves Ian Gallagher, Mickey is a great cop, Mickey wants to save Ian, Misunderstandings, Murder, Police Officer Mickey Milkovich, Protective Mickey Milkovich, Racism, Sad Ian Gallagher, Sad with a Happy Ending, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:33:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27079636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lenatoutcourt/pseuds/Lenatoutcourt
Summary: Detective Mickey Milkovich is called to the crime scene when the psychiatrist, John Wells, is found dead in his apartment.The main suspect is a man caught in the same apartment alongside the victim, a man he knows too well.
Relationships: Ian Gallagher & Mickey Milkovich, Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich
Comments: 12
Kudos: 63





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ritalove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ritalove/gifts).



> I wrote this story following a request from Ritalove ღゝ◡╹)ノ♡
> 
> The next chapters are coming soon ♡＾▽＾♡

Upon entering the apartment, Mickey noticed the high ceilings, the many paintings hanging on the walls, the luxurious furnishings carefully arranged in the rooms, and the many photos in which the owner of the place was exhibited alongside influential people or in extraordinary places.

Although Mickey usually paid very little attention to this sort of thing, it was impossible for him in this case to get over it, and the reason for coming here made him pay all the more attention to the smallest details.

There was no doubt that the owner of the place had money and that he was not trying to hide it, quite the contrary.

Mickey let out a small chuckle when his gaze fell on the many pieces of equipment on the kitchen counter open to the living room.

This guy must have spent a hundred times more money on kitchen equipment than Mickey in his entire life. Very little difficult feat in reality since the only element making up Mickey's kitchen was a microwave too old to function more than 3 minutes without exploding.

Although it was not the most reliable and up-to-date piece of equipment, it was more than enough for him since he had never eaten anything other than a ready-made meal since he moved into this apartment.

Mandy rolled her eyes each time she was in his kitchen, swearing to anyone who would listen that her brother would end up obese and diabetic before he turned 40.

Unfortunately for her, until now Mickey had managed to make her lie, maintaining a perfectly decent weight, and surprisingly good health.

He knew he could thank his job for it, and that the day he stopped running right-to-left all day on top of his regular workouts, he would have to seriously question his way of life..

A small noise behind him drew him from his thought, reminding him at the same time of the reasons for his coming.

He continued to walk into the apartment, taking a careful look around him.

Entering the bedroom he immediately saw Myles, but quickly his eye was caught by something else.

At the foot of his colleague and friend was a huge red pool staining the carpet.

“Fuck!”

Myles was amused by Mickey's immediate and genuine reaction, which summed up the situation rather well. He knew they would have been entitled to a lot more curses if Mickey had arrived before the body was removed.

“The body has just been taken away and the suspect is waiting for us at the station.”

Mickey frowned in surprise that they already had a suspect in custody. 

He had been called an hour earlier, leaving very little time to investigate the crime scene and find a suspect.

Living on the other side of town he couldn't have made it any quicker, leaving Myles to make the initial research.

Of course he had every confidence in his colleague to start working without him, but if he managed to wrap up his investigations so quickly when he was not by his side he would end up having questioned the need to his participation.

Myles knew that if Mickey was silent it was because his brain was busy, a theory quickly validated by the frown he displayed.

While Mickey couldn't really be considered a naturally talkative person, under certain conditions he was. Firstly when he was drunk, letting some information leak out without realizing it, but also when he was working. 

In this second scenario, Mickey had gotten into the habit of commenting on everything he saw or came across to make sure nothing was left out.

"The suspect was found here, just near the body, covered in blood."

Taken from his reflection by his friend's statement, Mickey let out a small laugh, reassured by the idea that Myles' advance was ultimately more due to fluke than a better thinking in his absence.

"I was afraid for a second, I thought you had become a good cop."

Mickey laughed even more when Myles answered him with a bombastic middle finger.

Their first meeting had been most chaotic, each having trouble dealing with the character of the other.

But since then, Myles had been much more open to what he still called Mickey's linguistic exuberances and Mickey learned from his colleague that it was sometimes easier to obtain the desired information by avoiding swearwords and above all if the witnesses did not feel threatened.

Although he was proud of his work and what he had become, Mickey still hoped that no one around him would be around when he cheered his usual character to copy Myles's.

"You could have taken care of this investigation on your own then. Why didn't you just let me sleep?"

“You’re right. And I could even have brought you breakfast home and massaged your feet after I finished the investigation.”

Mickey was torn between fun and disgust at the mention of this hypothetical situation.

He wouldn't mind having breakfast delivered to him at home, but he couldn't see himself letting Myles put his hands on his body, even if it was just his feet.

He tried to push the disturbing idea out of his mind before his imagination ran too far and he could never erase those images from his memories again.

"Who is the victim?"

“John Wells, 56, psychiatrist.”

“A shrink?”

“Psychiatrist and shrink are two different things.”

“Tweedledum tweedledee.”

Myles just rolled his eyes, knowing full well that Mickey would never admit he was wrong.

“I think we can go talk to our suspect. The places have already been photographed from all angles, everything is in the report. ”

Mickey nodded absently trying to record everything he could see into his memory.

He tried to memorize the location of each object, the possible exits, but also all the small details that would allow him to better understand the victim and perhaps undermine a false alibi.

Knowing all too well that Mickey had it for a moment, Myles just walked past him out of the bedroom.

He quickly got out of the apartment, giving some additional instructions to the officers remaining at the scene, before descending to his car to make himself comfortable.

Although at first glance Mickey seemed far from the typical portrait of the good cop, he was much closer to it than many of the men and women Myles had worked with.

Certainly he was not perfect, he was rude, sometimes too virulent or violent, but every day he tried to do better than the previous one and to erase a little more the bad habits he had acquired before entering the police.

He forced himself at each investigation to examine the crime scenes himself, even if the scene had already been inspected by many officers and recorded in the file. He thus hoped not to miss any decisive clue.

Myles turned on the radio, letting an air of jazz fill the cabin of the vehicle and closed his eyes hoping to use this moment to catch up on some of the sleep he lacked.

He opened his eyes again when he heard Mickey sit next to him. The radio was now playing a very different song, but still far removed from the likes of Mickey who turned it off quickly.

They hadn't found any music they both liked, their tastes being too different, forcing them run with the radio turned off every day.

Myles started the car and pulled the car into the traffic.

“Let me do a recap since you were late… John Wells’s brother was supposed to meet him at the hotel cafe next to the apartment. He didn’t come and the brother got worried. He knocked on his door but got no answer, however he could hear his brother's phone in the apartment. Worried he called the janitor who opened the apartment, and they found our suspect still asleep next to the body. "

"Sleeping?!? Who commits murder and falls asleep next to the body? ”

“I know it’s strange… But there is quite a bit of evidence against him. The blood stains on his clothes, the knife with his prints… ”

“I dunno… I feel like it's too simple.”

Myles let out a small laugh.

“Sorry our investigations didn’t live up to your expectations. But I understand what you mean. ”

It was very rare to find the murderer, murder weapon and evidence directly next to the body, and in this case the only thing missing was a big knot above all of this evidence served on a platter.

However, they could not exonerate their suspect just because the case seemed too simple.

* - * - *

"And here's m&m's coming up."

Mickey took a deep breath when he heard one of his colleagues repeat for the thousandth time the same joke, always so stupid and racist.

Although he would never agree to confess it with those terms, Myles was as short as he was, and had the misfortune of being surrounded by racist colleagues.

Myles must have restrained Mickey the first time he heard someone call them that, and time hadn't helped him endure the mockery anymore, especially since he had come to know and appreciate Myles.

“Don’t pay attention to them. You know very well that they are only waiting for it. "

Even though he hated to admit it, Mickey knew Myles was right and that taking it out on these guys would be the worst idea in the world and that he would certainly lose his job if he did.

No one would ever bet to find Mickey Milkovich in a police station other than in custody, and yet he liked his job.

After being arrested for damage to private property, Mickey was surprised to discover that the car he had vandalized belonged to a judge. 

The latter had come to see him at the police station and offered him a deal he never thought he would hear. Become a cop or suffer the repercussions of his actions.

Mickey looked at the judge in astonishment, unable to accept what she had just offered him. Reaction which had all the more comforted Lyn in her choice.

She wanted to become a judge after witnessing the young people in her neighborhood driven by poverty to commit crimes without anyone helping them find other solutions.

She had seen in Mickey the same look she had seen in these young people and had not wanted to abandon him.

She had been positively surprised to learn that he had already reached the 60 semester hours required to enter the police academy. And she had used her connections to help Mickey get all the other conditions despite his past, and was relieved to see Mickey complying with her demands.

Several times Mickey had thought about giving up, but each time he had held on, remembering that Lyn was one of the only, if not the only, person who wanted to help him.

He had already had someone by his side to motivate him and believe in him. It was actually that person who had pushed him to do that first year of college. But it was also the same person who had made him give it all up and let off steam on whatever he found, including Judge Lyn Paolo's car.

Now that time was far behind him. 

Since then he had managed to get into the police force and prove himself, at least to Lyn and Myles. He had also succeeded in becoming an inspector, by happy combination of circumstances and the support of his new friends, and had been able to officially team up with Myles.

Myles grabbed the file held out by the agent in front of him and opened it to study the details, letting the man give them a summary of the situation.

“The guy you arrested had no identity papers with him but his fingerprints were recorded after an arrest. He had been arrested by colleagues but escaped trial when his family pleaded insanity. ”

Myles lifted his head from the file to fix his gaze on the young cop and ask intrigued.

“Insanity?”

“He's bipilar or something like that-”

"Bipolar."

Mickey felt two glances fall on him, but he preferred to remain silent rather than explain to them how he knew about this disease, which all too quickly reminded him of someone he wanted at all costs to forget.

Easily realizing that Mickey would not continue, the young policeman resumed his explanation, a little embarrassed after being corrected in this way.

"He's a weirdo. He started having a crisis when we started questioning him, struggling and screaming that he hadn't done anything. We couldn't get anything out of him. All we know is the guy who died was his shrink. They probably did a session at home and that went wrong."

Mickey fixed his gaze on the young policeman, obviously proud, and stayed that way until the latter looked down and muttered a few words before stepping away from them.

Myles looked up from the file and finally noticed their colleague's departure before turning to Mickey accusingly.

"What?!?"

"Nothing... I just wonder why you don't have more friends here with your lovely behavior."

Mickey chuckled and scratched the tip of his nose with the back of his thumb before pointing out to Myles that he hadn’t more friends here than him.

Having nothing to say, Myles just smiled sadly.

Mickey still didn't understand how a guy like Myles couldn’t have any friend among their coworkers. At least if we took out of the equation the fact that many of these cops were racist and that those who were not did not want to denote in front of their colleagues and therefore preferred to imitate them.

“Do you know this disease well? Bipolarity? ”

“Just the basics. Patients have enormous ups and downs… Much like everyone else, but in a much more difficult version. Like total depression with attempted suicide. Or when they think they can do anything and lose balance with reality. Like crossing the country with your kids and leaving them on the edge of the sea road to continue the adventure with a truck driver you have just met and you think are your soulmate. "

Myles stared at Mickey for a few seconds, who immediately understood that it hadn't been very smart of him to cite such specific examples.

"Can they be violent?"

"Yes, it can happen. They are not more violent than others, but can hurt themselves or others without realizing it."

Mickey's response was swift and final. He had seen with his own eyes what this disease could do to someone and what that person could do to those around them if they did not treat themselves.

“To the point of killing someone?”

"If they are not treated maybe... If they are treated the medication should calm their moods enough so that it doesn't happen."

Myles closed the suspect's file and said with a confident voice.

"Okay. We're going to have to request access to his medical records."

It was the first time Myles had heard of this disease. 

Mickey seemed much more in the know, but looked very reluctant to share his sources, which would force him to do some research.

He didn't want to presume this man's guilt, but after finding him at the scene of the crime, his clothes stained with blood, his fingerprints on the murder weapon, the odds of him being innocent were very slim.

"Good cop, bad cop?"

“I guess I'm playing the god one...”

Mickey grinned at his friend's remark. They had once tried to switch roles and it had been a fiasco. Myles was not credible as a bad cop, and Mickey's annoyment manifested too quickly for him to pass himself off as the good cop.

Myles smirked as she thought back to the same memory as Mickey, vowing never to do it again. 

He took a deep breath, trying to hide all his emotions before stepping into the interrogation room. Even if he had to make the suspect believe he was on his side, he couldn't afford to let any information shine through.

He opened the door and smirked as he walked into the room, leaving the door open for Mickey.

"Mr. Gallagher, I am Detective Myles Holland and I am in charge of the murder of John Wells-"

“I didn't kill him!”

If Mickey still had doubts, after hearing Ian's voice he could no longer deny the facts. The man in that room was the man who broke his heart.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ian is the prime suspect and it forces Mickey to remember this man he loved so much.

* - * - * several years ago * - * - *

Ian was the happiest man in the world. He had finally left the family home and moved to campus with Mickey, where no one knew them and where they could finally freely be who they were.

The memory of the expression Lip had put on when he told them about his departure came back to him.

It wasn't so much his departure as Mickey's that shocked Lip. In his eyes Mickey was uncultivated, a man who only used his fists and not his brain and seeing Mickey enter college was a total incomprehension.

But contrary to what Lip had thought, Mickey was ultimately a much better student than he was suggesting. Of course, his grades weren't always the best and it was very common for him to just not come to the exams, but despite all of that he had managed to get his degree and a place at the same university as Ian.

Mandy had amused herself pointing out that despite their age gap it was together that they entered college. But neither Mickey nor Ian took offense. They were happy and that was all that mattered to them.

They could now live away from their parents. Far from Terry, far from Frank, and far from Monica.

Ian's heart twitched as he thought of his mother.

Her last visit had confused him more than he dared admit to anyone.

He had always been very affected by his mother's behavior and didn't hide it from Mickey. However, this time he had preferred to keep his feelings to himself.

Monica had returned with the crazy idea of settling down again with them and finally taking her place as a mother in their family.

A big argument had broken out with Fiona and Frank and before they even understood how they had come to this, Monica had confessed in front of the whole family that Ian was not Frank's son but Clayton’s, Frank’s brother.

From there Monica had tried to be forgiven, both from Frank and Ian, but to no avail.

The chaos that greeted this announcement had kept the whole family from noticing Ian's more than insignificant behavior.

Hearing this news had made him feel like he knew nothing about his life, and feared that one day his whole family would stray from him.

He had been lying in bed for several days, claiming to be suffering from food poisoning when someone came to see him. Mickey had been away with his brothers, so he hadn't been more worried than that. 

And when he returned it was a very different Ian he had found. A euphoric, uplifted Ian, ready to do anything to have fun.

They hadn't left each other all week and had taken advantage of the free time between graduation and going to college.

Ian had quickly figured out what was putting him in such an opposite state, at least he had quickly figured it out when Monica had run away again and all her family had just listed all the horrors she had done to because of this disease that she did not want to cure.

The fear of having inherited it had seized him by then, but he kept silent for fear of losing Mickey.

"I could never be with a person like Monica."

These were the words Mickey had said when Monica ran away, and those were the words that scared Ian the most.

If he had had his ideas a little clearer he might have understood that Mickey was not referring to her illness, but to her unwillingness to seek treatment and the hurt it caused around her.

Unfortunately, that was not what Ian understood, and now he was afraid to go to a doctor and Mickey would find out he was like Monica.

He was sure he would never let anything bad happen to Mickey, he didn't want to be like his mother. 

He might not be able to cure himself, but he would prove himself stronger than the disease, at least that was his wish.

* - * - *

Mickey was devastated, he would never have believed that Ian could cheat on him. But he had to face the facts, if he had not returned to their room then, Ian and this guy would have gone so much more far than a simple kiss.

Ian had tried to hold him back, promising him he hadn't done anything and vowing that he would never kiss anyone but him even though he had found him in another man's arms.

Nothing Ian said made sense and now he didn't want to listen to him anymore. Not when each word he said hurt a little more.

If Ian had managed to be honest with him and told him about the illness he inherited from his mother, maybe Mickey would have accepted the idea that Ian honestly believed that it was Mickey who entered that room afterwards their last exams and who had kissed him and not a totally different guy wanting to take advantage of Mickey's absence to try his luck.

But unfortunately for the two of them, Mickey knew nothing about the illness that was slowly eating away at Ian and he couldn't imagine what Ian had believed to be reality.

In his eyes, only one solution was possible. Leave. Far from Ian. And pour out all the rage that deception had created in him. Destroy everything. Even him.

* - * - * Return to the interrogation room * - * - *

"I swear! I didn't kill him! He was my psychiatrist, he was helping me get better. "

Myles turned back to the door, wondering why Mickey hadn't followed him. He knew he couldn't afford to let the young man's demeanor disturb him in front of the suspect, but it didn't sound like Mickey.

He returned his attention to Ian and questioned.

“So why were you at the scene of the crime?”

Mickey could hear the sobs in Ian's voice. The same ones he had that day promising him he only wanted to be with him, only love him.

He took a step back, ready to flee, but hear Ian's crying stopped him.

“I don't know! I don't remember anything! I don't even know- I don't even know if it's me- If I have- "

Mickey was no longer able to think, only one thing occupied his thoughts. Ian was bipolar. 

Even though the information in the file indicated so, and even though the odds that he inherited the disease were quite high, Mickey couldn’t accept this fact.

Myles took a packet of tissues paper from his pocket and handed them to Ian. The latter readily accepted it and tried to calm his tears without paying attention to the man who had just entered the room.

Myles let Mickey sit next to him and asked in a calm voice.

“As far as I know your illness is especially dangerous if you don't take your meds… is that your case, Mr. Gallagher?”

"No! I take my meds!"

Ian had lifted his head to look straight in the eyes at this man he still hoped for on his side, but his gaze was directly drawn to the person sitting next to him who was staring at him. Mickey Milkovich. The man he had lost to his illness.

Ian couldn't believe what he was seeing, there was no way Mickey was standing there in front of him. There was no way Mickey was a cop, and there was no way he could be the person in charge of this case.

He had already experienced this situation at the end of his first year in college. When this guy entered his room his brain had been disturbed, making him see Mickey's face instead of this guy’s.

He had known that the stress of the exams and the joy of the end of the year had amplified his illness, and that the pills he had managed to get from the local dealers would surely not be enough to calm him down, but he never could not imagine reaching such a stage.

He knew this had happened to Monica before, and hated the thought of being so much closer to his mother.

Myles took turns looking at Ian and Mickey, noticing the total change of mood after their eyes met.

"Let me introduce you Inspector Milkovich." Calmly affirmed Myles hoping to relax the two young men a bit.

Sure Mickey was supposed to have the bad cop role, but there was a difference between bad cop and austere cop.

Ian couldn't help but repeat the name that still seemed to him like an illusion.

“Milkovich…”

Was Mickey really in front of him? Was he really a cop? Was he going to investigate the death of his shrink?

Still unable to understand the behavior of the two men around him, but determined to move the investigation forward, Myles looked to Ian, hoping to catch his gaze and said in a calm but sincere voice.

"Mr. Gallagher, there is a lot of evidence against you and if you really want me to believe in your innocence you have to have to help me."

Ian was unable to look any further than into Mickey's wonderful blue eyes. He reached over to him over the table, but automatically Mickey pulled back, looking away from the young Gallagher.

“Mr. Gallagher, do you understand what I'm telling you?”

This time Myles' words reached Ian who turned back to him before nodding softly.

“You were found in the apartment of victim John Wells. How long have you known him? ”

"A little over a year... I have-"

Myles noticed the little look Ian gave Mickey before continuing his sentence. He would have to have a conversation with his teammate when they got out of there, because there was no doubt the two knew each other.

“I started to see him when I got out of HP.”

Mickey felt his heart leap. Ian had been in HP. Why? For how long? Had his family pushed him there?

“I see- I mean, I've been seeing Dr. Wells once or twice a week lately.”

“And where did you usually meet? At his office or also at his place. ”

“At his office only. I've never been to his place. ”

“You told us that you can't remember what happened last night. Do you often have absences like this? "

Ian bowed his head, stressed that he would have to talk so openly about his illness in front of Mickey.

“It can happen… Sometimes my meds don't react well and I forget things. It happens especially if I mix them with alcohol. "

"Is that what you did yesterday?"

Asking this question Myles knew in advance the answer he would have, but he still had to ask. And unsurprisingly, Ian told him once again that he couldn't remember.

He questioned him about his relationship with Wells and the animosity he might have had against him, but nothing in Ian's words or demeanor let any of them shine through.

Mickey's silence was starting to become more and more crippling for their interrogation, and no longer taking it, Myles decided to take a break, leading his colleague with him out of the interrogation room.

"Follow me."

Mickey knew from hearing Myles's tone that he couldn't disobey his order, not if he wanted to continue this investigation with him.

Of course it would have been easier for him to stop there and let someone else take his place to go home and forget what he had seen and especially who he had seen, but all that would have been cowardice.

Myles left the police station and only stopped after being convinced that they could not be overheard by their colleagues. He took out his pack of cigarettes and handed it to Mickey before pulling out one for him and lighting it. He took a deep breath and exhaled it gently, staring into space before returning his gaze to Mickey and asserting calmly.

"You have 5 minutes to explain what's going on."

Mickey stared for a moment with his gaze locked on the end of his cigarette, slowly burning out before finally looking up at his colleague and friend, determined to reveal everything to him and accept his decision.

“I know Gallagher, at least I knew him. From before police-academy. "

With Myles silent, Mickey realized he needed to say more.

“We went out together and then we broke up. I had no idea he was bipolar, but his mother was. This is how I know about this disease. I don't know the Ian from today, but I knew the Ian from before… At least I thought I knew him… He has many flaws but I can’t imagine him killing someone. ”

Before seeing Ian in this interrogation room, Mickey would have almost welcomed the idea of knowing him behind bars, as if the universe was finally avenging him. But now he honestly couldn't stand the idea, despite all the hatred he still felt for Ian.

She was the only person he had fully opened up to and he had betrayed him. After that Mickey hadn't trusted anyone, or at least not entirely, too scared of being betrayed again.

“Normally, I would have made you quit this investigation. You are too close to the suspect to be objective…”

"Normally?"

"All the clues point to Gallagher, it would be very easy to stop there and indict him without looking any further ... If you believe in his innocence you have to prove it."

“Thank you Myles-”

"Don’t thank me. I wouldn't do this a second time... And believe me, proving his innocence is not going to be an easy thing to do. ”

Mickey inhaled deeply, his cigarette still untouched burning between his fingers. He dropped what was left on the floor and crushed it with the tip of his shoe, hoping he was ready to face Ian's presence again.

* - * - *

They had spent the morning questioning Ian and studying every bit of his memories.

From what little he remembered, he had woken up in the bedroom of the one he now knew to be his shrink, a stone's throw from his corpse, the murder weapon at his feet.

It was the repeated knocking on the door and the screams of the victim's brother that had roused Ian from his sleep, and panicked by the scene he had encountered when he woke up, he had tried to escape.

He had run to the window facing the fire escape stairs and started lifting the lower leaf, but was stopped by the building janitor just before he could escape.

The man, a former marine, had no trouble immobilizing him and had called the police.

After that Ian was taken to the post where his fingerprints had been checked in and put in an interrogation room.

With the events of the day before still a mystery, according to Ian, Myles and Mickey had stopped the interrogation to focus on the other parts of the investigation.

They had made a request for Ian's medical records and planned to interview the brother while they waited for their request to be granted.

Mickey found it hard to imagine interfering in Ian's life and illness in this way, but he knew that without this information he could not know the “new” Ian and would only remember the one he knew before.

Myles came to a halt as he came up to Joseph Wells, the victim's brother, and Mickey inadvertently almost bumped into him, his eyes too fixed on the ground. He looked up to try to understand what had made his friend and colleague to stop so violently and believe to become or by seeing the face of the brother of the victim.

Salt and pepper hair, and a well-shaped goatee, surrounding a rounded face and visibly marked by the years, Joseph Wells looked exactly like his brother John.

“Fucking twins.”

"Did you manage to get him to confess why he did this to my brother?"

“I'm sorry Mr. Wells but I can't speak about it with you-”

“This guy murdered my brother!”

“As of yet his guilt has not yet been established.”

This policeman's assertion made Joseph's nervousness grow a little more. He had found this guy in his brother's apartment, next to his corpse, and yet the cops seemed reluctant to charge him for the murder.

“We have a few questions for you to try to understand everything that has happened. Can you follow us please? "

Joseph agreed and followed the policeman to an interrogation room, leaving the younger of the two cops to bring up the rear.

The latter had stared at him since they had met as if he had never seen twins in his life.

Mickey used to trust his instincts. It was his instinct that had allowed him to survive with Terry as a father and now it was his instinct that allowed him to achieve very good results in his job.

And now when he saw this guy in front of him his instinct was telling him that there was something very fishy about this murder.

He had a hard time admitting it, but he was thinking hard about those stupid B-series scenarios where a demonic twin brother always came to prey on the good guy in the story. Shows that he would deny watching if anyone asked.

However even if his instinct told him to beware of this guy, he could not see himself explaining the why and how to Myles. Although open-minded, his colleague would certainly not be persuaded by such poor arguments.

If he wanted to talk to him about it, he would have to find a better argument.

Myles noticed a new tension in Mickey, but luckily, unlike Ian, it didn't seem enough to keep him from doing his job properly.

"You live in Jacksonville, right?" Mickey questioned, sitting down across from Joseph.

"Yes."

Joseph's short response easily hinted that he wasn't planning on pouring out more than necessary on his life than that and that Mickey and Myles’s job would be all the more difficult.

"What did you come to do here?"

“See my brother.”

Joseph crossed his arms over his chest, gazing at the cop in front of him.

“So for a vacation?”

"Yes."

Myles leaned towards Joseph hoping to give him confidence.

“Mr. Wells, I know this is difficult for you, but anything you tell us may help us understand what happened and arrest your brother's murderer. You understand?"

Joseph wanted to tell him to fuck off and that they had already arrested his brother's killer, but he knew in advance that such words would not help.

He sighed for a long time, nodding his head.

“You come to see your brother, but you take a room in a hotel rather than staying with him. Yet his apartment seemed large enough for two people. Was there a reason for that? Were you on bad terms? ”

Joseph took turns looking at the cop who had just spoken and his colleague, quickly realizing that as in many detective series, one was going to pretend to be the bad cop and the other the good one and that the one who had just asked the question was undoubtedly the villain of the two.

“I got along very well with my brother. The reason I booked a hotel room was because of his allergies! "

"His allergies?"

“I wanted to use my trip here to adopt a dog that I had spotted online. My brother being allergic to dog hair, I preferred to book a hotel room. "

“You could have adopted this dog at the end of your trip-”

“Are we here to talk about my dog or my brother's death?!?”

"Please calm down Mr. Wells, my colleague is just trying to figure out what happened."

“I'll tell you what happened. I found this guy at my brother's place after he killed him! This sick man deserves to end his life in prison for what he has done. "

"This sick man?"

Mickey stared at Joseph in astonishment, disturbed by the choice of his words, but the latter seemed to recover quickly.

“You have to be sick to kill someone.”

“You've met the suspect before or heard your brother talk about him.”

Mickey hoped that Joseph would betray himself by answering him, confirming his intuition, but the latter was unfortunately either smarter or more innocent than he thought.

“I don't even know his name or what he looks like. It was the janitor who knocked him down and after that your colleagues arrested him. "

“His name is Ian Gallagher, and he was a patient of your brother. Does this name mean anything to you?"

"Nothing at all. My brother didn't talk about his patients. He didn't want to mix his private life and his personal life. And if this guy was really one of his patients, I now understand why he wanted to avoid the subject. ”

Mickey hid his clenched fists under the table for fear of showing the annoyance this guy was creating in him talking about Ian like that.

Certainly he hadn't seen him for a long time and they hadn't parted on good terms, but still he couldn't admit that Ian was capable of such a thing and that he could be called that way.

"You had planned a meeting with your brother, is that it?"

“Yes we were supposed to have lunch together, but he was late so I tried to call him. Since he wasn't answering I went to his place. But again no answer. When I heard his phone through the door I got worried. "

"And that's where you called the janitor who was able to open the door and stop Mr. Gallagher before he managed to escape, is that right?"

"Yes."

“Alright, I think that will be all for now. Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions."

Joseph stood up, mimicking Myles, and squeezed his hand before he walked around the table and left the room.

Myles closed the door behind him and turned to Mickey, convinced the young cop was upset about something.

"It is not normal."

"What? What is wrong? "

“That Ian hadn't woken up sooner… I always needed at least 4 alarm clocks to get me out of bed, but Ian was still up at the first ring. Even when he was very tired or after drinking a lot."

Myles kept his gaze fixed on Mickey trying to digest all the information he was giving him.

Even though he had known from their meeting that Mickey was gay and that he had confessed to dating Ian, he still found it hard to imagine them as a couple.

Mickey was visibly convinced that Ian's habit of waking up to the first alarm ring hadn't changed over time and from the victim's brother's words, the phone's ringing was loud enough to get through. the door and therefore wake up anyone in the apartment.

Of course, a deeper sleep than usual, because of medication, alcohol or any drug could affect this sleep.

"It doesn't hurt to ask for a blood test to check if he hasn't taken any drugs..."

Mickey nodded, hoping Myles was right. Besides, the doc should have finished the autopsy of the body and he hoped that this gave them new leads.

Both were greeted by several of their colleagues as they left the interrogation room.

“And here come the M&M’s. So you'd rather blame the victim's brother than the guy whose fingerprints were found on the murder weapon? "

Mickey rolled his eyes, took a deep breath, and preferred to let Myles answer them to avoid getting violent.

“It's always better to see the puzzle in its entirety rather than trying to deduce the meaning with just a few pieces.”

"Just because you're missing a piece of your fucking puzzle doesn't mean it's going to change the meaning." Growled one of their colleagues annoyed by the simple fact that Myles dared to answer them.

He didn't consider himself a racist, but this guy had nothing to do in that police station, nor did he understand how Milkovich could have been allowed to become an inspector too.

If it were up to him, he would have gotten rid of those two assholes a long time ago. 

Holland, their boss, had a very bad habit of wanting to put an end to techniques which had been proven for a very long time but which he thought were too violent. And strangely, Milkovich seemed to agree with him, despite his most violent past.

“This is where you are wrong. If your puzzle shows an elephant with the dough up but missing the piece right under its leg, you won't be able to tell if it's going to kick a ball or smash a man's head. "

Mickey let out a chuckle when he saw his colleague’s face cut short at Myles’s demonstration.

"Now please excuse us, we have an investigation to do."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After what Ian did to him, Mickey could only rejoice to see him end his life in prison, but he still can't stand the idea.

Mickey carefully read the autopsy's report, thinking he was giving them a brief summary of what he had discovered.

“Your victim had good alcohol in his blood when he died, but nothing to stop him from defending himself.”

"So the killer caught him off guard?"

Yang nodded to validate Mickey's guess.

“I couldn't find any defensive mark. He died with a dead blow that severed the jugular. His killer must have been given a large amount of blood, as must the murder weapon. "

Mickey flipped through the pages of the report until he found the ones about the murder weapon the lab analyzed.

"I see it…"

Photos taken at the scene of the crime showed a knife covered in blood, keeping only a few square inches immaculate where the killer had put his fingers.

“Gallagher's prints were on the knife.”

“Yep. This guy is ready for jail. He is found next to the body, covered in his blood and his prints on the murder weapon. Worst murderer I have ever seen. "

Watching Mickey nervously bite his lower lip so as not to give in, Myles decided to take over from his colleague.

“We're going to need a blood test from Gallagher. We would like to see if he took something ... "

“My guys have already taken care of it, the analyzes are underway. I'll send them to you as soon as it's over. "

* - * - *

Mickey and Myles had spent the rest of the day questioning the neighbors, the concierge and all the other hotel workers, hoping to get their hands on new information or at least confirm information from their previous interrogations.

The janitor had corroborated Joseph Wells' testimony, as had the surveillance cameras placed in the lobby of his building. Cameras which had also allowed them to see Ian coming up to the victim's apartment with him.

Ian seemed to be carrying his psychiatrist at arm's length, obviously unable to walk on his own.

By the end of that day, even more evidence seemed to point to Ian being guilty. Their boss having heard of the murder, he was quick to give them an ultimatum to complete this investigation.

All the more worried about Ian's fate, Mickey had taken all the police and scientist's reports with him when Myles ordered him to go home to sleep.

His eyes tirelessly scanned the lines his colleagues wrote, hoping to find something to question Ian's guilt.

By retracing the victim's latest movements, they had managed to get their hands on the cameras of the bar where Ian and John had met.

Ian had arrived first and settled down at a table before being joined by John. The latter had looked around the room before fixing his gaze on Ian and quickly approaching him.

With the camera mounted behind Ian's back, it was impossible to see his expressions. Unlike those of John which left no doubt.

The two men had subsequently discussed a lot, and argued while lining up the drinks.

Ian then put John's arm around his shoulders and led him outside.

Mickey and Miles had then deduced that he had driven him back with John's car to his apartment.

Mickey scribbled the questions he wanted to ask Ian the next day on a piece of paper. In particular the reasons which could have pushed him to go to this bar.

He turned his attention once again to the report the police had made of the apartment when the murder was discovered, trying to compare this data with what he himself had seen and what the various protagonists had said.

His inability to find new information was driving him crazy. He was convinced that there was something wrong and that he didn't need much to find out.

He gripped his head nervously, groaning before dropping his fist on the coffee table in excess of rage.

He could well remember the terrified look Ian had cast on him that morning when he left him in that interrogation room. And even after all this research, he remained convinced of his innocence.

He grabbed the packet of cigarettes on the table and walked the distance to the window in a few steps before opening it a little and leaning against the wall, the cigarette between his lips.

He inhaled deeply as he closed his eyes and tried to find some semblance of inner peace.

He had often imagined how his next meeting with Ian would be. Both living in the same city, it was almost impossible for them to evolve without crossing paths with each other. But he would never have imagined finding him in such circumstances, let alone being so desperate to help him.

The sounds of the city made him open his eyes again and as he gazed up at the starry sky, a dazzling revelation crossed his mind.

He ran over to the coffee table where he had left the case files, not thinking for a second of his owner's anger when he would smell the smell of cigarettes inside the apartment.

He was sure he remembered this detail of the scene inspection perfectly, but needed a confirmation from the report that no one else had touched it before they arrived at the crime scene.

He finally managed to get his hands on the desired document, after dropping several other papers on the ground and searching for the part that interested him.

All the windows in the apartment, including the one facing the fire escape, were closed and locked.

Concentrated on reading and re-reading this information, he did not pay attention to the cigarette which arrived at the end of its life, came to burn the inside of his fingers. He let out a series of swearwords and tried his best to shield the papers from the still hot ash he had dropped on them.

Once the risk of fire was completely eliminated, he returned his attention to the famous document.

If, as Ian had said, he had tried to escape through that window, there was no reason it should be found closed.

* - * - *

Hearing noise in the hallway in front of him Ian looked up and was surprised to find Mickey standing in front of him with his arms crossed over his chest.

“You said you tried to go through the window facing the fire escape. Did you need to unlock it or not? ”

“Oh- No, it was already unlocked. But I didn't have time to open it properly ... "

Ian had answered without thinking about his ex-boyfriend's question, and without looking for the reason for this interrogation.

Since he got the information he wanted, Mickey turned to the exit, but before he could take a step, Ian's voice stopped him.

"I'm sorry I never told you."

Afraid to understand what Ian was implying, Mickey hesitated a split second to run and never came back. He stayed however and turned to Ian again until their eyes met.

“I should have told you. I know you would have left me if you had known that, but I should never have forced you to live with me without really knowing what you were committing to..."

During his night in custody, Ian had thought a lot about the mistakes he had made with Mickey and made the decision to fix as much as he could before being locked up.

His lawyer, an assigned counsel, had given him no hope of being released, prompting him to plead insanity to escape prison, something he would eventually accept.

“I will plead guilty. My lawyer said my illness would work in my favor and that I would go to HP rather than jail. "

Mickey felt the anger rise in him with each new word from Ian. He spoke of his future in such a detached way when he would probably only see the light of day through a window with bars.

“Who gave you permission to quit?!?”

Ian widened his eyes, unable to understand why Mickey was getting so angry.

"I'm sick of you making stupid decisions! Why would you plead guilty when you don't even remember killing him and had no reason to?!? "

"I-"

“And why didn't you ever tell me you had this fucking disease?!? You already had it when we were together, right?!? Did you think it wasn't important? That I didn't need to know? "

Ashamed, Ian bowed his head. Thousands of times he had imagined seeing Mickey again and confessing everything to him, but even in his dreams this information was never welcomed.

He felt the tears flood his eyes and then his cheeks.

“I- I didn't want you to leave me-”

Mickey quickly approached Ian and violently gripped the bars between them.

"What are you talking about! Do you really think I would have left you because of this?!? Do you really think I'm that pathetic?!? ”

An immense panic invades Ian. He tried to keep his hands from shaking by planting his fingers firmly around his arms, but to no avail. Mickey's look prevented him from calming down.

“You- You said- That you could never live with a bipolar-”

"I never said that!"

"You did! You said you could never live with a person like Monica! And I'm like Monica! ”

The memory of these words hit Mickey in the heart. He clearly remembered saying that, but hadn't said it for the same reasons Ian imagined.

"You-"

“I didn't want to tell you because I was afraid you might not want me anymore… But I shouldn't have. I should have told you the truth and given you the choice... "

Mickey gently released the bars, letting his hands slide down the metal bars.

“Ian… When I said I could never be with a person like Monica I wasn't thinking of a bipolar person- Well, I did, but not like you imagine. I saw what your mother did to all of you. And what she did to herself. And I know she could have avoided a lot of it if she'd had the courage to heal herself. I always hated that she didn't understand how much she hurt you- "

Ian collapsed to the floor, his hands still pressed to his arms, unable to accept what Mickey was explaining to him.

He had refused to be treated for fear of confessing his illness to Mickey and seeing him leave. 

It was the same illness that had made him kiss back the man he had mistaken for his boyfriend, a kiss that ended their relationship. 

He hated himself after that, refusing to treat himself as though to punish himself for what he had done.

“Ian, please I need to know- This guy- The one you kissed- Did you honestly think he was me?”

After finding out about the window information, Mickey hadn't been able to sleep and had spent the rest of the night researching Ian's illness. 

Of course he already knew a few things about it after Monica, but what he had found had called many things into question, including Ian's words when he found him with this man.

"Yes."

This simple answer made Mickey's world fall apart. 

He believed Ian, he honestly believed him. 

Everything that had happened in the past few years, had stemmed from this moment, when he believed Ian had wanted to cheat on him. And now he knew that all this, all this suffering could have been avoided.

"I'll get you out of here."

"What?"

“I found an incoherence between your testimony and the report of the first cops arrived at the crime scene. And I'll do anything to get you out of there. I don't know what will happen next, but I can't let you ruin your life by pleading guilty. "

Ian watched Mickey get up, realizing that each time Mickey was the one who had moved him forward in his life. It was Mickey who had pushed him to study, Mickey who had pushed him into the unknown, and even Mickey who in a way had pushed him to heal himself.

After his siblings discovered his illness, he was strictly forbidden to seek to see Mickey again. 

His name had even been banished from all their conversations, as if they were convinced that the disease had started by his fault.

It had destroyed Ian all the more, further destroying his desire for treatment.

It was Debbie who ended up breaking that stupid rule and found him in his room as depression took hold of him.

She had reminded him of everything that had happened and told him that he would never be able to win back Mickey's love if he didn't seek to heal himself first.

These words, yet so simple, had been the trigger that had prompted Ian to get out of bed and request hospitalization in HP.

It was thanks to this decision that he had managed to heal himself and control his illness on a daily basis.

All thanks to the man standing in front of him.

“I think I remember why I went out last night… I'm not sure that's how I met John that night, but I know that's why I went out…”

Ian had initially decided to keep this information to himself, not seeing how it would help his case, or even any reason to tell Mickey.

“I had to meet a guy in a bar. My psy- I mean the victim- He encouraged me to meet other men and recommended a dating app. I was supposed to meet a man in that bar that night…”

Mickey just nodded, hoping that the multiple feelings that statement aroused in him weren't reflected on his face.

“I have to look in your phone to confirm that…”

Ian gave a shy little smile, happy to see that Mickey wasn't immediately questioning his words.

"No problem... My unlock code is the same as before."

Mickey pretended not to know what this code meant and muttered a few words before walking away.

He jumped when he heard Myles' voice behind him.

"I found something interesting in our case."

“Fuck! Never do that again! I almost had a heart attack!"

“Sorry, you looked pretty busy, I didn't mean to disturb you earlier… But be careful next time though. If it was someone other than me who surprised you, it could have been problematic."

Mickey looked away and rubbed the back of his neck, trying to calm the tension Myles' assertion had created in him.

He wasn't sure what his friend had seen or heard, or even if he wanted to know it.

Luckily for him, Myles seemed just as determined to change the subject as he did.

"I found a strange thing about the fingerprints on the murder weapon."

Mickey finally returned his attention to his colleague and frowned, impatiently waiting to know what he had found.

"The scientists managed to get 4 fingerprints on the weapon."

Myles handed Mickey the copy of the document he had used to find the potential evidence and watched as Mickey grabbed it to reread the information he had gone through several times already.

"You realize that doesn't help us at all, right?"

“The knife was covered with the victim's blood. Except for the locations of the murderer's fingers… 5 fingers. ”

As Myles had predicted, Mickey didn't jump for joy when he heard his explanation. On the contrary, he seemed even more desperate, letting his arms fall limply along his body, sighing.

“Just because they failed to collect all the fingerprints doesn't mean that it becomes proof of his innocence.”

"It's true... But there is a really strange information about it."

Mickey returned his attention to Myles, but this time without much hope of hearing him announce a real good surprise.

Well aware of having spared the suspense of his revelation a little too much, Myles decided to put an end to Mickey's suffering and grabbed the document to place it in front of his young colleague pointing one by one to the intact locations on the photo of the murder weapon.

"They found the prints of the thumb, middle finger, ring finger and little finger."

"And?"

Myles rolled his eyes, trying the best he could to resist the urge to yell at Mickey for not figuring out what he was explaining to him any faster.

He grabbed Mickey's free hand, letting the other fall back to his body with the document, and pointed his fingers one by one.

“Thumb, middle finger, ring finger and little finger. You understand now?"

Mickey stared at his hand. 

He didn't dare look up at Myles for fear that his colleague would admit to having lied. 

Instead he ordered him to do it again, handing him the document. Myles immediately complied.

"The thumb, the middle finger, the ring finger and the little finger."

Mickey pulled away and grabbed the first pen he found. He held it out, pointing at Myles before reaching out with his index finger so that it was off the pencil.

"Who holds a knife like that to kill someone?" Mickey growled excited by the discovery of Myles, but also annoyed that no one had noticed this detail before.

And what is the last empty slot without a footprint after the little finger?

"Who the fucking idiot who took those fingerprints and didn't notice something was wrong with it?!?"

Always inclined to defend his colleagues, even when they did not really return him the favor, Myles preferred to keep for himself the name of the police officer who filled out the report and instead concentrate on the rest of their investigation.

Mickey quickly forgot his question to focus on the information Myles had brought and the information he had discovered himself.

Glad to see that Myles also found it strange that the window had also been marked closed in the report despite Ian's testimony, they both decided to share the work in two.

Mickey would return to the crime scene, and Myles would interview the team that made the report to validate their facts.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mickey is convinced that Ian is innocent, and that Joseph killed his brother, but now he has to prove it.

Mickey's task was necessarily longer than Myles’s, who only had to change floors in the police station to find his witnesses rather than roam the streets of the city at a rush hour. So He wasn’t surprised to receive a message from Myles telling him that he had done his part and that their colleagues once again stated that the window was locked.

According to them, the check had even been made several times, since the window overlooked the emergency staircase.

Mickey tried not to be demoralized, remembering that their boss had only given them a short time before they had to charge Ian.

He ordered the janitor to open the apartment again for him and to leave him alone.

He hurried to open the window and step over the ledge to climb the outside staircase, checking regularly to see how strong it was. Reassured that he wouldn't collapse under his weight, he looked around.

The lower floors of the staircase appeared to be in worse shape than the one he was on, no one could go up into the apartment from there, or even down to the street.

A little more upset, he settled down against the windowsill and took a cigarette out of his pocket to light it and inhaled deeply as if it could unlock his mind.

He sucked up the smoke, letting his gaze rest on the opposite buildings. None of them had a window facing that side. 

Suddenly intrigued, he looked around for the surveillance camera trail but found no more.

He took out his last puff of a cigarette, smashing its butt against the railing of the staircase and looked up to the upper floors.

The stairs on this side seemed in much better condition than on the lower floors, prompting Mickey to climb quickly.

He inspected the two apartments to which the staircase led, but found no real sign of life.

The first seemed unoccupied for a long time, the furniture being covered with white sheets.

The second and last apartment was decorated with care and exemplary cleanliness. But according to the flyers placed on the table in front of the window, it served as show apartment for the other accommodations in the complex.

Mickey continued his ascent to the roof, which he quickly walked over.

Finding nothing interesting, he prepared to go downstairs, even more disappointed, but stopped dead as he noticed a reddish glow reflecting in the opposite corner of the building.

He quickly moved closer and swore, realizing that he had almost missed such an important clue.

Glued to the building was the hotel in which the victim's brother was staying.

Mickey immediately took his phone out of his pocket to call Myles and give him the information and to ask him to investigate Joseph Wells a little more.

Realizing that if he wanted to convince anyone of the brother's possible guilt, he had to find more proof, Mickey strode over to the apartment, determined to get his hands on new evidence.

Mickey went back down to the victim's apartment and one by one, he opened all the drawers and cupboards in the kitchen, living room, various bedrooms and bathrooms, but to no avail.

He remained convinced that he lacked almost nothing to find out the truth, and finding nothing played on his nervousness even more.

If he didn't find new information, Ian would be locked up for murder, and whether in prison or in HP he couldn't take it.

Realizing that there was another place he hadn't searched yet, he picked up his phone again to contact Myles and quickly get the authorization he needed.

* - * - *

Sitting in that hallway doing nothing with that stupid hotel manager refusing to let him into John Wells' room without a warrant, was a real ordeal for Mickey.

Lucky for him, Myles was supposed to show up any minute with the precious sesam.

"I'll tell you once again, but if you want to enter this room you just need to have the client's consent or a warrant."

Mickey rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time. He had no desire to let this guy know that he suspected him of having killed his brother, and that was why he was patiently waiting for this stupid warrant.

Mickey attempted to focus on something else, trying to list all the information he had managed to get since early in the morning and was luckily pulled out of his thoughts by Myles running into the hallway.

Myles handed the warrant signed by Judge Lyn Paolo to the manager and noticed Mickey's smirk as he recognized the signature.

Mickey would never have imagined being friends with a judge. But as much as strange as it may sound, this was now how Lyn saw him, her friend, and she trusted him enough to get them the warrants they needed.

The manager opened the door for them and Myles thanked him before ordering him to stay in the hallway and closed the door behind.

“The brother took a room on the top floor, the one right next to this big neon.”

"So he was able to get to the roof of his brother's building without a problem and go down to his apartment to kill him before coming back here.."

“Possible, from here it's easy to climb to the roof but it was risky, he could have been seen. And what reason would he have had to kill his brother? ”

Myles was now as convinced as Mickey of Ian's innocence, but he didn't want to risk accusing an innocent.

“The two apartments above the victim's are empty. For one it was the owner who died and had no direct descendant, and for the other it was the show apartment. I checked with the concierge, no one is using it anymore since all the apartments in the complex are sold and the guy below is dead. People did not find his body until a week after his death… So it affected the price of the apartments a bit. "

“Fuck!”

Mickey turned to Myles, unaccustomed to hearing his friend swear.

He had just opened one of the cupboards in the office and had come face to face with a safe.

Even if the warrant legally allowed them to see its contents, the owner not being with them, it would probably take them forever to bring in a professional to open it, time they didn't have.

“Move, I'll take care of it."

Myles pulled away, staring at Mickey, already busy unlocking the safe.

Even though he knew it would have been more useful to search the rest of the apartment, there was something hypnotizing about watching Mickey. 

Myles couldn't hide his admiration and amazement when the door opened shortly after.

"Do you have any other hidden skills like this?" He asked, now more amused than disturbed.

“One day a brother of mine brought home a similar safe. He spent days trying to open it. I found a video online that explained how locksmiths open this stuff and since it looked pretty simple I gave it a try. It was quickly discovered that I was much better than my brother at this… Terry found this skill very useful. ”

Feeling that his friend was losing himself in his memories, Myles tried to draw his attention back to the safe and its contents.

Mickey grabbed the large envelope he found inside and put it on the desk behind him before emptying his contents.

"Fuck! Why is this guy walking around with so much cash?!?"

At first glance it was at least several thousand dollars.

"Even though it's in his safe, there's nothing to tell us it's really his ... It could very well belong to the dead man."

"Do you think that's the motive for the murder? It's a bit light though."

Mickey knew Myles was right. Sure, although people had killed for less than that before, but that money alone would never be enough to convince anyone.

"It's worth digging into their finances. We might find some interesting stuff there."

*-*-*

It didn't take long for them to discover that the two brothers had taken out life insurance, and that each of them was the beneficiary of the other.

Unfortunately for them, the research into the two brothers' bank accounts quickly put an end to their hopes.

Apart from his life insurance, John was totally bankrupt, lived on credit, only owned his apartment and failed to sell it since the death of his neighbor had damaged the image of his building.

Joseph on the contrary had enough money to live comfortably until the end of his life thanks to a good luck which had prompted him to invest in bitcoins from their inception.

Their value having only increased since then, he found himself with far too much money in his accounts to need to assassinate his brother for a few dollars.

Myles had used part of his morning to confirm Ian's claims about the dating app. He had noticed the presence of a message, arrived on the day of the murder, from the man with whom Ian was to have a date, to cancel their date. Message that Ian did not seem to remember any more than the rest of the evening.

Knowing Mickey was unable to support the fear on Ian's face, it was Myles who went to interrogate him alone, without making the slightest remark about his colleague's behavior.

Yang, the forensic doctor, found Mickey leaning against a wall, right next to the door leading to the cells.

Already sufficiently occupied with his personal problems, he preferred not to seek to understand more than necessary the strange behavior of Mickey, and just give him the results of the examinations carried out on Ian Gallagher.

“Your suspect should never have drunk with the meds he's taking. It's no wonder he can't remember anything with a mixture like this. "

"His meds that caused his amnesia?" Mickey asked for confirmation, grabbing the document held out by Yang.

“Yep. Precisely the mixture of meds and alcohol. When the two are combined the effects of alcohol are tenfold.Loss of inhibitions, bad decisions and amnesia. No wonder this guy killed someone. "

Mickey wanted to throw his fist in Yang's face to make his smirk disappear. 

Fortunately for his career and for the teeth of his colleague, a crucial question came to him, overriding his desire to hit him.

"Is it normal, for a shrink to give this kind of medicine to a person with bipolar?"

Yang frowned, not really understanding Mickey’s reasoning.

Sure he knew their suspect in custody was bipolar, but he had had very little time to devote to their case and had only skimmed through his file very quickly, preventing him from giving him a precise answer.

"Probably, but it's pretty strong medicine."

"If a doctor prescribes this kind of medicine, is he obliged to warn his patient of the dangers?"

"Of course! Otherwise the patient could put his life and the lives of others in danger. ”

“Thanks Yang.” Mickey muttered before rushing off to his desk.

Myles expected to find Mickey where he had left him, right by the door to the cells, trying to eavesdrop on his conversation with Ian. But he found no trace of him after he left Ian.

He scanned the room and saw his colleague, obviously very busy at his desk, his landline and cell phone pressed to his ears.

“Thanks Lyn, I promise I'll repay you for this.”

Myles let Mickey end his calls before questioning him.

"We'll send you the warrant, send me the surveillance cameras as soon as it's done!" Mickey ordered before hanging up and finally releasing the pressure.

"Can you explain?"

Mickey put on a smile that he wanted to be confident in, hoping that this would bring them good luck.

"I'd rather check in advance so you don't take me for a fool."

"You already look like a fool, so explain."

A beep from Mickey's computer caught the young cop's attention again, leaving Myles unanswered.

Determined to understand what visibly excited his colleague, however, Myles repeated his order.

"Explain."

“I think the brother who did it.”

Myles stared in astonishment at Mickey still occupied by his computer, before the surveillance videos on the screen caught his attention.

Mickey took notes of the various passages of Joseph Wells in the halls of his hotel. First alone, then with his dog, then alone again the next morning.

"It matches!"

"Can you finally explain?!?"

Mickey knew it, this time it was more of an order than a question, but this time he had a chance to picture his theory. 

Certainly he still had no concrete evidence, but perhaps enough circumstantial evidence to create a reasonable doubt.

“There are only cameras in the entrance of our victim's building. None if you enter through the garage. The janitor confirmed to me that several occupants had requested that surveillance cameras be installed there as well, but to no avail. This kind of change takes everyone's agreement, and they still lacked a voice… Our dear victim. ”

“He just had to love his privacy. ”

“You could obviously see it like that. But tell me, who do you see here? ”

Myles looked at Mickey's finger, stretched out at the screen. The images seemed to come from the hotel where the victim's brother was staying and it was easy to recognize him.

“Joseph Wells.”

"WRONG!" Mickey said after mimicking the sound of a buzzer very badly.

Myles understood less and less of what Mickey was trying to imply, and he hated the situation.

He watched him take two ID photos from a file and put them in front of them.

“Who is Joseph, who is John? Or are there only two photos of Joseph? Or two photos of John? ”

Watching Myles’ expression, Mickey realized that he was going through the same doubts he had when he thought of this strange possibility.

"You think the dead man was in fact Joseph?"

“Bingo!”

“Let me explain. John finds Joseph shortly after leaving the airport. He finds a way to get him back to his apartment, while he stays outside. Shortly after, John checks in at the nearby hotel and goes upstairs to drop off his brother's suitcase before going downstairs to retrieve the dog that will be his alibi. I managed to get the call tapes from our victim's apartment and he received several calls from an unknown number, they lasted several minutes each.. It could very well be John with another number, probably to make sure his brother was still there. I guess he didn't call with his real number so as not to arouse suspicion. After that, he returns to the hotel for the night with the dog, and crosses the roof to join his brother. A little later, he leaves the apartment to find Ian in this bar. Then he goes home with Ian. He probably made Ian drink some more before he finally killed his brother. If he held Ian's hand on the knife, that would explain why we have 5 fingerprints, but only 4 prints and the two don't match. These are his fingerprints and Ian's offbeat prints. After killing his brother, he just had to take the opposite road and go to his hotel room until morning. By going out through the window that he is obliged to leave unlocked. All he had to do was pretend he had just found the body. "

As much as Myles wanted to believe this scenario, no one other than them could decently accept it as the truth.

Granted, the facts coincided pretty well, but as long as there were only coincidences, there was nothing they could do.

“What about the money?”

“A way to get his brother to come here, and to strengthen his alibi once he has taken his place. There is no reason Joseph should kill John for the sake of money, but the reverse is quite different. It was John who was ruined, not Joseph. By taking the place of his brother John gets all his money back. It was John who prescribed Ian's meds, the same meds that messed up his mind. It was also him, according to Ian, who prompted him to use an app to meet new people. He even recommended one to him. ”

Although he knew that without proof they couldn't do anything, Myles wanted to believe Mickey's theory.

“M&M’s, the worst cops in history.”

Myles and Mickey turned to face their colleague, amused by the lack of success in their investigation despite all the damning evidence against their suspect.

He knew they didn't have much time to figure this out and when he saw their boss coming towards them, he couldn't resist the urge to admire the carnage.

Like just about every other cop in this police station, their boss did nothing more than roll his eyes when he heard the nickname his men had come up with for Mickey and Myles.

He knew, like everyone else, that he couldn't afford to set against the majority of the cops under his command, and so let them do it without saying anything, hoping they would stop on their own.

"So, What about your investigation?"

“We have a new lead.” Mickey said before Myles could tell him to shut up.

"And you have the evidence you need to indict this Gallagher?"

Mickey wanted to tell him that Ian didn't think he was the killer, but he knew that without proof his boss would take him for a fool, and might even take away the investigation.

He turned to Myles, but his friend's gaze was elsewhere.

“I told Mr. Wells that his brother's murderer would be charged today. "

"No problem sir. You will have your proofs. ”

Myles felt all eyes turn to him and tried the best he could to put on a confident look despite the doubts that beset him.

He waited until he was alone with Mickey again and said in a low voice.

“Don't kid yourself, I don't have any proof yet, just a big hunch that might get nowhere.”


	5. Chapter 5

Myles had brought Joseph Wells back to the police station to question him about Mickey's suspicions.

"I'm sorry Mr. Wells but given your resemblance to the victim you will understand that it is quite natural to doubt your identity."

"My brother is dead! You got a culprit, evidence, and a motive and all you care about is blaming me?!? Are you completely nuts?!?"

Myles took a deep breath to try the best he could to stay calm.

He knew perfectly well that soon they would be forced to close this case and that they therefore had little time to prove the guilt of this man.

"I know sir, unfortunately as long as your identity is not fully confirmed-"

"A confirmation?!? What do you want?!? A criminal record with my name and my fingerprints would be enough for you or still not enough!?!"

Mickey and Myles stared at him, both disturbed by his question. If such a thing really existed, it would be irrefutable proof of his innocence and push Ian a little faster in jail.

Wells ran a hand nervously over his face before confessing.

"When I was a minor I was arrested for theft and went before the judge. Fortunately the case did not go any further. I had made an agreement with the judge and the cop who arrested me. So that this bad choice does not ruin my life and my record was erased when I came of age. I did not think that one day this childhood mistake could get me out of trouble, but I am convinced that you will be able to recover it and finally stop suspecting me... I would have also suggested that you contact the policewoman who arrested me and who continued to come regularly to our house to watch that I was no longer doing anything stupid, but unfortunately she died there at some time. "

* - * - *

The comparison between Joseph Wells' fingerprints and those in his criminal record that he had been able to unearth with his consent had undermined all of Mickey's theories. Now that he was cleared, there was very little doubt about Ian's guilt.

The only hope left was that window Ian had found open and which in the report was marked closed.

Leaving Myles to deal with the final elements concerning Joseph Wells, Mickey walked over to one of the cops who he knew had participated in the first crime scene inspections.

"Anderson, you’re one of the cops who inspected the shrink's apartment, right?"

Anderson had never liked Mickey, and hearing him talk to him like that didn't help him appreciate him either. He knew that despite how he felt about him, Mickey was generally a good cop, but his bad temper and the animosity that all the other cops had towards him and his partner kept him from having a discussion with this guy without getting out. annoy.

"M&M's need some help with this simple cas?"

His remark amused all his colleagues around him except Mickey of course who will automatically be fists.

Everyone knew that Mickey Milkovich could be violent and that in a clinch he would have the advantage over most of them, but they also knew that if he did come to fists Mickey would have huge problems.

Anderson tried to put on a confident smile, but a single look from Mickey made him regret his behavior.

Mickey inhaled deeply and buried his hands deep in his pockets to make sure he didn't lose control without realizing it.

"When you inspected the premises, were you sure that the window overlooking the emergency staircase was properly closed?"

"If it's marked closed in the report then it was closed."

Not knowing what to say, Anderson was delighted to see one of his colleagues speak for him.

"I didn't think you were that bad cop Milkovich. You found the culprit at the crime scene with the murder weapon, the victim's blood on him and you still can't figure it out? is this psychopath that actually that's all! "

Instinctively Mickey pulled his fist out of his pocket, ready to strike this man who dared to speak like this about Ian without knowing him. 

Lucky for him, and though he still dreamed of hitting this guy until he took back what he had just said, Myles out of nowhere stopped him just in time.

"Calm down Mickey, he's not worth it."

* - * - *

Mickey pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw Lyn's name on it. Even though he didn't believe in miracles, he still hoped that she could give him the information that would allow him to save Ian.

"Mickey I have good news and bad news for you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Myles told me about your theory about the victim's brother. I learned he had a criminal record when he was a minor-"

"I already know that-"

"Inspector Milkovich stop interrupting me please!"

Mickey stiffened automatically at hearing Lyn's tone. Although she was his friend, she was nonetheless a judge and knew how to be obeyed more quickly than anyone.

"So I was saying... He had a record, after being arrested for theft. I know the judge who handled his case and I allowed myself to ask him a few questions. This case goes back years, but so far he remembers them very well. Mistakes are hard to forget. "

"What?"

“The trial went very quickly as the kid pleaded guilty and returned everything he stole. He wasn't worried more than that and just ended up with a record that would be by default. erased when he came of age. But it turns out that the policewoman who arrested him wanted to make sure that he had not robbed again, especially since his father present during the trial did not seem to be the best example to follow. So she went to his house some time after coming of age. She asked to speak to Joseph but when the kid came to the door he didn't recognize her. The kid's mother didn't either understand what she wanted from her son. "

The more Lyn moved forward in her story, the less Mickey understood where she was going.

"At first she thought the kid was lying because his mother was next door, but when the second kid appeared and she saw him smile at her, she understood."

"Wait you want me to believe that it was not Joseph but John who had been arrested?!?"

"That's what the cop believed anyway. She told the judge about it, hoping she could correct their mistake and put the correct name back on the culprit, but it was too late. Whether as an inspector or as a judge, being manipulated like that, especially by a kid, is something you don't easily forget. "

"If it's true that means I'm right and that asshole killed his brother to pretend to be him!"

"Yes, but it also means there is no proof ... They couldn't correct the criminal record back then and now it has become proof of his innocence."

"And where is the father? He must have known that it was not Joseph!"

"We couldn't get a hold of him. He's wanted for thefts and several scams but he managed to slip through every time."

"Fuck!"

Mickey was having a hard time taking stock of the emotions he was feeling, the emotional lift he had just experienced was so great. He knew it now Ian was totally innocent and John had killed his brother to take his place, but he had no proof of any of that.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help you anymore."

Mickey took a deep breath to avoid letting his nervousness rub off on his friend.

"Thanks anyway, Lyn."

He hung up quickly and threw his fist against the wall of the police station, drawing all eyes to him for a moment.

* - * - *

Mickey had never felt so stressed. Myles had sent several teams to re-inspect the apartment and the hotel room, and he was hoping for more evidence.

It didn't take them any longer to see mr Wells arrive and immediately head to their boss's office.

They followed him there and stopped at the door.

"Mr. Wells, I wanted to let you know that your father has just been arrested."

Mickey noticed the tension in John, but he recovered immediately, plating a completely neutral expression on his face.

"What does my father have to do with my brother's death?!?"

Myles turned to Mickey, also totally disturbed by this new information.

"Nothing to be honest. But he was the one who attended your trial when you were a minor ... It seems that he has information to share with us about it."

"I don't see how it relates to the murder of my brother!"

Mickey felt that his lie had messed John upside down and he hoped it had upset him enough to compromise himself. 

He knew it was a risky game of poker, but Mickey wanted to try everything.

Also aware of the state in which Mickey's assertion had put him, Myles decided to take advantage of it and pulled his phone out of his pocket and triggered the call he had prepared a few minutes earlier.

"What is-"

Mickey raised his hand to silently order his boss to shut up, fearing in advance the fallout from this gesture.

A slight vibrator was heard in the room finally allowing Mickey and Myles to breathe again.

"Aren't you answering Mr. Wells?" Mickey asked with a big smile he couldn't control.

Myles hung up on the answering machine's voice and repeated the call, unable to hide his joy of hearing the vibrator echo softly in the pocket of the man in front of him.

"What does it mean?!?" Wells growled, surveying the two policemen in front of him.

He didn't want to take that phone out of his pocket and cursed himself for keeping it rather than throwing it away.

“The number linked to the phone vibrating in your pocket appears on the phone records for the apartment where your brother was found.”

"I needed to call him and I did it on this cell phone, that's all."

“And not with yours? It's strange..."

Myles noticed the slight frown in his boss. He was sure, if they could convince him, they could convince anyone else.

A new vibration, shorter than the previous ones, resounds in the office.

“That must be the notification of a new message on the dating app you have installed on that phone. More precisely a new message in the discussion between Ian Gallagher and a man who had arranged to meet him in a bar the night of the murder. I guess it was to avoid drawing attention about this man that you kept the phone. It would have been strange if this complete stranger did not answer any more after the murder… ”

Mickey felt Wells more and more about to break.

“I understand… Your brother doesn't even have a job and yet he is the more fortunate of the two of you. All he did was get lucky. You on the other hand have really tried to do well. It was your only solution. "

“Tried to do well?” Mickey asked in front of Myles' monologue.

He returned his attention to John and smirked as he added.

“This guy always used his brother to get by. He isn’t able to do anything good on his own. If he had really wanted to get away with doing it right, he would have sold his apartment. "

“This apartment was unsaleable! Nobody wanted to buy it anymore after we found the dead man in the apartment above. "

“I don't understand anything anymore… Which apartment are we talking about? And I thought Mr. Wells your brother was broke, not you. What’s going on here?!? "

“The guy you have in front of you is John Wells. ” Affirmed Mickey, glad that John had betrayed himself.

Realizing that he couldn't get out of it, John tried to run away, but two men in uniform stopped him before he reached the door, putting an end to the last doubts of his innocence.

The young policeman stood in front of him, a blissful smile on his lips before affirming.

“Several teams are taking fingerprints in your apartment and the hotel room you rented on behalf of your brother. If we add the evidence we can get from the phone in your pocket, I think you're ready to jail, Mr. Wells. John Wells I arrest you for the murder of your brother Joseph Wells… ”

Destroyed by the reality that swept over him, John did not even hear the end of his rights, leaving the men who arrested him taking him to the cell.

He met Ian's shocked gaze and looked away for fear of seeing pity.

If John had chosen Ian for his plan, it was because he was convinced that Ian was alone and that he would have no trouble passing him off as a murderous madman.

Ian watched as two policemen took this man who had the same face as his deceased psychiatrist into a cell without realizing what was going on.

“You didn’t kill your shrink.”

Mickey's voice immediately caught his attention.

The young man was standing in front of him, only letting the bars of the cell separate them.

"I did not do it?"

“At no time you would be able to kill someone Ian. Never. You are a good person. "

“But I don't remember anything.”

“You mixed up your meds and alcohol and that's what made you lose your memories.”

No matter how hard Ian tried to remember, he couldn't think of a single time his doctor had warned him about this. Of course he had been absent a few times after drinking since his release from HP, but he had convinced himself that it was because of the loss of the habit.

Seeing Ian utterly lost, Mickey vowed to explain everything as soon as he was released, and never to let him leave him again.

* - * - *

Ian smiled as he opened his eyes, literally coming face to face with Mickey.

He had hardly left the young policeman since he was released and hoped the situation would stay the same for as long as possible.

After the attempted escape of the one he now knew to be his psychiatrist, the evidence of John’s guilt continued to mount.

According to Myles, Mickey's colleague, John's alibi only stood as long as no one looked beyond the evidence he had tried to pass off as the truth.

Ian had found it hard to come to terms with the betrayal of the one he considered almost a friend, but luckily for him, Mickey's presence at his side had kept him from falling.

He had received a new prescription for drugs and was already responding much better to their side effects than those prescribed by Dr. Wells.

His new psychiatrist had not found it necessary to send him back to HP, but had nevertheless at least temporarily increased the number of his sessions.

He had managed to clear things up with Mickey and the latter seemed to forgive him little by little.

Lip and Fiona got annoyed when they saw them both arrive at their door, but Mickey had put them straight back to their places. They had apologized flatly when they learned that their little brother had suffered such horror without their knowing it and had promised to be more careful.

They hadn't liked the idea of their little brother moving in with a man they still believed to be responsible for his illness, but had been forced into silence by their younger sister.

Debbie had confessed in front of everyone the only reason that made Ian agree to be treated, and although Lip had tried to retort, she hadn't given him time.

"Do I have something on my face?"

Ian froze when he realized Mickey was awake, but relaxed almost immediately, feeling the young cop's arms tighten around him.

“I was just thinking about something…”

Mickey buried his face in the crook of Ian's neck, letting his mouth drop kisses here and there.

“To what?” He whispered between kisses.

"It's strange to say, but I'm glad I was arrested."

Mickey immediately pulled back to fix his gaze on Ian. The latter displayed a shy little smile, but sincere.

"I'm not happy a man died... But I'm glad I was able to find you because of this. If I had a choice, I wouldn't change a thing. Risking prison or PH is nothing if I can end up in your arms. "

Mickey pulled Ian to him again, to hide the flushing flush on his cheeks.

"Stop saying bullshit like that, someone will think you're crazy."

Ian gripped Mickey's shirt firmly, asserting to himself that if this was all madness, it was the sweetest he had ever experienced.

**Author's Note:**

> This is pure fiction and I have absolutely nothing against the real John Wells. I was just looking for a name for the victim when his came to mind (ᗒᗨᗕ)
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated! ♡´･ᴗ･`♡
> 
> I'm not a cop or a doctor, so parts of the investigation or when they talk about bipolarity can be a bit clumsy. Sorry. Please let me know if you find any strange wording or inconsistent parts. ●﹏●


End file.
